The web of lives
by ihas no clue
Summary: As he fell through the black hole, Loki found himself wandering through the darkness before he felt the pull of Blood Magic. Now bound to a child, he must guide her to wield her magic without causing harm to any being. Yeah, let's see how well that turns out...
1. Chapter 1

Darkness…It surrounded him so it wouldn't have mattered if he had his eyes open or closed, he wouldn't have noticed a change in the nothingness. Deprived of his senses, he floated in it reliving his last moments, the last of his pitiful existence.

"_I could have done it Father!" _he said with a fervor so unlike him. He was desperate, for what he couldn't say. He _needed _something, a nod, a gesture, something to prove that what he did was worth the effort he put.

It was a vast challenge, having to put many fronts in order to get what he wanted…but it all came crumbling down with those two words:

"_No, Loki."_

Everything he worked for, gone.

The child gasped as her eyes flew open. The faces of her fellow apostates, covered in crimson blood, filled her vision and she felt like being sick.

"Back up! She gonna puke!" teased one of the older boys. Amidst the reprimands aimed at the boy, she moved away from the group but didn't get far before-

'Ewws' and 'gross' surrounded her as she spewed the meager breakfast until she couldn't even stand. She barely heard the adults reprimanding the boys and only stopped when she felt the familiar wave of healing from Te' asu, the only elf that knew anything about healing in their entire group.

Even with all the rumors, back from before they escaped the Tower, on how he lost his eye, along with the large scar across his neck were found out to be made up, she still found herself being the only one who would talk to him. He was the only one who didn't yell or look disappointed when she did something wrong.

"You push yourself too much, da'len" he whispered to her as he helped her up. She brushed him off with mumbled thanks as she noticed Devin coming over. Devin never did like Te' asu, thought he was 'a no-good, knife ear wimp of a mage!'

Devin led the revolt back in the Tower that ended up with six dead Templars to their twenty fallen comrades. Of the remaining survivors, half were left behind, so only fourteen remained, hiding from the Templars waiting to kill them. Although not the oldest, which was to Almena who was close to forty-two, he was the one who embraced the first Pride Demon to offer him power and so he became the most powerful.

"So, what did you summon for your partner?" he demanded by way of greeting. He was always a stern man and now being away from all Templar scrutiny made him even more…grim. His gaunt face and tattered robes made the man look even more unbalanced as he stared daggers into the girl. She looked away.

"ANSWER ME!" he roared. The cave fell silent and now all eyes were on the three of them. Everyone else had come to some agreement with a lesser demon and the only ones left were Te' asu and herself.

She shook her head as she braced herself for the beating that would follow. As much as she tried, she could not call attention to herself while in the Fade. It was as if she became invisible to the demon's sight and the others envied her, until they had their own demons and left her even more alone than before.

She heard Devin scoff and storm off, muttering all the while under his breath. The cave resumed its hushed conversations.

How long had he been stuck in this nothingness, floating through with not a thought going through his mind? Hours, ages, but perhaps just a moment had passed outside the "Void" and he had gained nothing but the bitter taste of the defeat. It must have been a while, since when he thinks about it now he doesn't feel so much shame from it as when he first fell. The 'life' that he led in "here" didn't have much to offer: after he lost his voice a few times, and remembered the exact wording of every single book he had ever read had only amused his thoughts before he became silent. Was this a penance then, for what he had done to his f-?

Loki blinked, derailing his train of thought. Something had caught his attention, an actual thing in the void. He stared at it for a while and it shimmered a bit.

'_A light? C…Could it mean a way out?_' he wondered, blinking again to make sure his eyes were working and he wasn't imagining anything.

He slowly stood, his legs wobbling under him from a lack of use, and headed for the general direction of the shimmering light. It bobbed in an obvious display of excitement, complete with flashing lights too, and Loki felt his lips straining to remember what it was like to genuinely smile at…well anything really.

"I…I'm coming," he rasped out when the light pulsed with purple, or was it bluish, light when he paused for a moment. It bobbed again and even came a bit closer when he was only a short distance from it.

From the moment he stepped foot into the grey colored Circle Tower, Te' asu _knew _he didn't want to be involved with anything that had to do with the human called Devin. A week after he had managed to settle in, he had been approached by Devin with a simple proposition: "Hey, if you ever want to round your ears, I'd be happy to do it for you, Knife-Ear."

Needless to say, Te' asu responded with a polite "Piss off" and when the human hadn't left, he set the teen on fire before covering him in ice. So began the rivalry (that Devin thought had existed and Te' asu strived to ignore) in that so five years had passed before _she _arrived.

He had been sweeping the foyer when both the Knight Commander and the First Enchanter had walked through the steel doors. He paused for a moment and then _the Templars had brought HER in_. She was the oddest human the elf had seen in his time at the Tower: Lightly tanned skin, hair that shone a fiery copper, with deep purple eyes that seemed to see far into the Beyond, and clothes that would be better called cleaning rags. Te' asu felt his insides clench when she passed him by with her head held high and both hands curled protectively around her belly, obviously swollen to show her pregnancy.

Both leaders had doubts with the woman being of magical talent until she set a tapestry aflame with a nod of her head and a cocky grin sent Te' asu's way. Soon after, the Knight Commander sent the woman to take her Harrowing. The First Enchanter denied the Commander's request stating that it would be better off to wait for the baby to be born before they did anything drastic.

The conversation went back and forth before the leaders agreed and by the end of the day the woman was a part of the Circle…and staying in the room next to Te' asu.

That night, after everyone else had long gone to bed, Te' asu had awoken to the sound of someone humming. It was a lowly, haunting tune and it sounded eerily beautiful. He sat up in his bed and slowly made his way to the door. Here, the humming was louder and he pushed the door open.

The woman sat by the wall, with eyes closed and hands clasped by her knees. Te' asu didn't know how to speak to her, for fear of stopping the song, to show that he was listening when she looked at him. Her darkened eyes showed a blend of mischief and danger. Te' asu blinked when he noticed the Templar lying by her and he realized that the Templar was snoring. She had put a _Templar _into a very deep sleep, given the volume of the snores.

She stood up and strode over to him. Te' asu jumped from her sudden closeness and felt his insides lurch again when she grabbed hold of his hands. Her humming had switched to lowly spoken words and increased in tempo as she began to spin him around.

"_W-wait_," he hissed but she ignored him. She kept her song and the whirling dance going. The hallway blurred against the torchlight and Te' asu felt as though she was separating his soul from his body. For how long she kept at it, he couldn't tell. But when he did regain his sense of self, Te' asu noticed the sun was nearing noontime and he was back in bed, looking for the most part as though he had never even moved.

Every day after that night, Te' asu noticed that the woman was always silent. She never spoke, not at suppertime, not when casting spells or pulling tricks, and most certainly not when the Leaders tried to get her to say something about her child. She never did her 'humming dance' again and Te' asu wondered what the point was.

No one knew her name since she never told anyone, not even the First Enchanter, and that drove the Knight Commander irate. There were days she fasted, poked and prodded by the mages learning to heal and give birth, and with a company of five Templars following her all day long, hoping to make her crack and say something, anything. Nevertheless, she stayed silent, sometimes nodding her thanks but mostly icing her fellow mages when pushed too far within a training exercise. However, she had never used her magic or even made a rude gesture his way…and every day her stomach served as a reminder to the life she carried.

Loki stared at the pulsing light before it flared brightly. He closed his eyes before opening them to see that the light had turned into the figure of a woman.

The 'woman' had blazing eyes, offset by her violet hair and pale skin. She wore a flowing robe of a deep blue hue and her enigmatic smile made him wonder if he should have just ignored the light and kept w-_**thinking **_about how to escape the "Void".

"_You have been here for a while now, Odinson"_ she spoke with an ethereal echo _"and I know you wish for a way out…but it will not be as easy as when you came here."_ She began to float away, beckoning him to follow.

Loki stared at her, with narrowed eyes. "How do you know my… given name, Spirit?" he whispered as he crossed his arms. The woman kept on wearing that infuriating smile of hers. "So, you're giving me the silent treatment? How very original, Spirit."

She paused and watched the disgraced immortal with amused eyes. _"I am not just a spirit, Odinson. I-"_

"Do not call me that!" he croaked out and she merely raised a brow at Loki's reaction. He felt his cheeks get a bit warm as he averted his eyes. She 'hmm-ed' at Loki before moving over to stand next to him.

"_Then should I call you by your other titles, Silvertounge or maybe Trickster?"_ she echoed into his ear and Loki moved away from her. _"Or perhaps even-"_

"If you know of my titles, then you know who I am Spirit," Loki snapped back at her. With each word spoken, he felt his voice grow stronger. "So why don't you speak what you want from me or leave me be?"

Her robes stopped swirling and she had finally lost her smile. The bright light in her eyes dimmed as she spoke, _"Such rude manners, is this the way a prince is taught to speak to others? Perhaps you are not the only exiled being left to wander the Aimless Void, devoid of any form of peace from past mistakes."_ Her words cut Loki to his core and he suddenly felt like crawling underneath a rock to hide from her gaze. "_…very well, if you feel that I do not have anything of importance to say to you, O _Grand _Immortal, then I will leave you be." _The woman gave him a nod before turning away and Loki felt a rare pang of guilt. He hadn't meant to drive her away; he just wanted a straightforward answer. He followed after her, along a path that appeared from the woman's footsteps.

"Wait please." his footsteps thrumming against the glowing path.

The clanking of armor and the crunch of steel steps against the stone floor seemed to echo deafeningly to the Templar-in-training. The young man's heart pounded against his ribcage as he followed his superiors deeper and deeper into the caverns where rumors of the escaped Circle Tower mages seemed to be. The trainee kept his guard up, taking the stories on how caves could hide even the largest spiders in the most smallest of cracks. He shuddered quietly; he _LOATHED_ spiders. So intent was his focus for the eight-legged beasts that he yelped in alarm when he bumped against his stopped teammate and turned a deep shade of crimson when they all turned to stare at him.

"Ye sure it was wise to bring the rookie, Cap'n? He's jumpier than a rabbit when a Mabari's close by," spoke the blond-haired man closest to the captain, scoffing at the trainee's outburst. The man stroked his beard as he watched the Templar the boy bumped into began to scold him.

"It's the only way the boy can learn how to master his fears, Candors. If I recall correctly, _you _were just like him," the Captain whispered back as she strode back toward them. The Lieutenant frowned as the Captain went and quietly spoke to the squabbling pair. After a moment, the group managed to form a rough semi-circle in the narrow tunnel.

"All right, we all know why we're here," started Candors, leaning his Great Sword against the nearest stalagmite. "Those murderin' Blood Mages from the Islet Tower 'ave been spotted around here and it is our job to _bring 'em in alive _to be Tranquil'ed. The cave openings near the sea were sealed with traps jus' in case they were tipped. **We give them a single chance to surrender**. If, and _**only**_if, they decide to fight back we strike 'em down, got it?" The Lieutenant looked up from his quick sketch in the ground to stare at the group.

Even though most of their faces were covered, Candors could feel their excitement for battle from all but the trainee. He wondered if the boy would grow to be like the others: power hungry and always itching for an uprising to bring down the mages they swore to protect. Candors gave his captain a nod and she took over explaining the details of the plan.

Loki blinked away the spots on his eyes as the path flashed brightly before striding after the woman. She slowed down enough so that they ended up walking side by side. The duo were silent, the 'swish' of their clothes were the only sounds reaching their ears.

"…_I was banished here, on purpose."_ the woman spoke suddenly. He said nothing, waiting for her to continue. A moment passed and she began to speak again. _"My jailers were unaware of the consequences that were made from their decisions. They wanted my past, wondering why I had so much power when none of my other siblings showed any special talent."_

Loki turned his head to look at the woman better. Her face showed pain and anguish but she kept the tears at bay before slowing down. He stopped and turned towards her.

Words: 2615

Prompt: (AU) As Loki fell into the black hole at the end of "Thor", he felt a pull of magic that landed him on a rocky shore in a nameless world. Forcibly bound to an apprentice by Blood Magic, he must watch over and guide her until the magic can be reversed.


	2. Chapter 2

"_**Can you hear me, can you hear what I am saying?" **_it whispers gently, softly into his ear.

"_Of course I can hear you, what's wrong?"_ he murmurs back, hands already channeling his mana to attack any that would hurt the soft sounds of the voice. He's the protector, the solution to the problem. He looks around before seeing the woman standing a few feet away from him.

"_**Be still. Nothing is the matter for me but I fear it might happen to you…," she says with reluctance as she nervously twists her pale hands.**_ Her hair hides her face but he can see the tears, the anguish on her delicate face.

"_What do you mean?"_ he demands with a worried tone. He'd never let anyone hurt her; they'd have to go through him before she ever gains a scratch on her perfect skin.

She sighs before coming close to him, her dress rippling in the breeze. A soft scent fills his nostrils with the flowered fields he once ran in. He breathes deeply hoping to smell the flowers when he looked out of the windows in the tower.

"_**They follow you. You and your own from the place they forsake all mages. Already they near, passing the traps with ease."**_ she tells him, her voice taking on a steel edge. _**"You cannot defeat them as you are now but if you do what I tell you, not a single one will be left to report to their superiors."**_

He nods as he hugs her. The Desire demon's grin is unnoticed by the male she managed to be-spell. If all goes well, she will gain a very powerful vessel than this world could ever hope to provide.

* * *

The two of them walked for a while, the endless void gaining outlines of shapes as they passed. At first, Loki thought they were illusions until he stubbed his toe on the edge of one. Grunting, he thought the spirit managed to see his blunder but she seemed too busy searching the horizon.

The trickster broke the silence as they stepped over a small glowing gap on the 'ground' mimicking the flowing water of a stream.

"Where are you taking me?" he said. His voice stopped rasping but Loki could only speak a few words before it started again.

"There is a place you must be in order to leave your Void." the spirit answered patiently as she turned to look at him. Her eyes were a bit dimmer than he remembered but then again he did manage to offend her. "We should be close."

"My Void?" Loki repeated as he followed her. She gave a nod before she gasped, clutching at her chest as she sank to her knees.

"What happened?" he demanded as he moved closer to the shuddering woman.

"It's starting," she whispered as she turned her horrified face to him.

* * *

The first Templar to go through the opening somehow missed the spring trap. His clattering fall alerted the two apostates keeping watch. They managed to ring a gong before the Templars silenced them, alerting everyone to action as it echoed through the cavern.

"Damn, there goes out element of surprise. They'll be ready for us and I don't think they'll want to surrender now." the Captain cursed as she helped the fallen Templar up.

"Looks like we'll just have to charge in."

The apostates were prepared to fight a small group of Templars but they weren't prepared to fight the charging mass of righteous fury that came through the cavern's opening. Lieutenant Candors felt a pit of shame appear when he saw that there were children scattering along with the group.

The pit disappeared as he raised his shield to block a fireball thrown his way. This wasn't the time or place to feel pity. Lowering his head, he charged with two others as they went after the apostate that started a summoning spell.

The recruit stuck close by his teammates as they cleansed the area of magic before rushing the scattering mages. Five tried to get away from the armored Templars and the recruit looked away as their swords felled three of them.

It wasn't over for their group as the bodies distorted with grumbling roars as the corpses changed into abominations. The farthest mage from the boy turned into a mass of red before the smell of burning flesh reached his nose while the other two were humpbacked farces of a human.

The rage abomination hissed as it spewed out a jet of flames from its hands as the recruit threw an ice grenade at its face.

The Captain pulled her sword from the fallen Sloth abomination's stomach before turning her attention to the apostate that sent it after her. He stood off to the side, hand on the shoulder of another as they spoke. A grin stretched across his face as he nodded to the news he received.

A screeching cry served as the only warning to the next abomination that went after her. The captain put her shield up as it crashed into her, claws trying to find a weak point in her defense. Grunting, the captain shoved the demon away.

Those apostates would have to wait as the captain tangled with the abomination.

* * *

Devin could see that they were losing ground. The Templars were too much and he couldn't do much for the ones that were already down or taken over by the demons that they allied with.

The shout of his name made the mage turn to see another of his determined followers, Carlton, running to him. The man had blood staining his arms but it didn't seem like it came from him.

"Devin, where is she? I need to find her!" Carlton shouted in a frenzy as he reached Devin.

"Carlton, calm down and tell me who are you trying to find?" he said as he put his hands onto Carlton's shoulders in an attempt to focus the man. It gave him a glimmer of disgust to calm the fool but he kept it off his face.

"That girl, you know the one that's always around that elf? I know a way to use them to send the Templars away for good. The ritual's quick too, we won't need a lot of time to prepare it either."

The news made Devin pause. Ever since that knife-eared freak started to watch over the girl, he couldn't plant the idea of freedom into the little whelp's head. Any time that he tried to gain a moment alone with her in the Fade, she would somehow slip away.

So a way to destroy the two annoyances along with the Templars for good? A wicked grin crossed his face as he said, "Show me."

* * *

For the first time in his life, Te' asu appreciated the fact that humans overlooked him as he led Almena and children along a hidden path away from the fighting.

He passed word along the group over the frantic race across the landscape after the Tower burned. If the Templars managed to track them down, they wouldn't take the time to sort out the actual attackers from the innocents. In their eyes, they were all _guilty_ and would cut them down.

Some listened before Devin pushed the runaways into the arms of the demons in the Fade. Many ignored him when he tried again saying that they were stronger than any Templar with their partnership. The elf felt despair before Almena approached him.

The woman did enter a partnership, but not with a demon she explained to his wary face. Almena showed Te' asu that she joined with a Spirit of Compassion while she journeyed into the Fade. Together they began to plan whenever the group stopped to rest before Devin shouted the orders to move again.

When Devin decided to hide their group in the many caves that lined the coast, the pair saw their chance for survival if the Templars caught up with them. Every day Almena wandered in the tunnels for 'food' while Te' asu looked at night. Together, they found a path that lead out of the caves.

The sleepless nights were draining on the elf but he had enough energy to call Almena and the children over to the opening when the Templars burst into their 'camp'. To his relief, the Templars ignored the children as they went after the others.

Te' asu noticed that his little shadow lead the three boys that teased her earlier over to him. When Almena joined them, Te' asu lead the group into the maze of tunnels. Two left turns, three right turns, then left again before their tunnel opened up to three other pathways. He turned to Almena, about to ask which path they should take.

"We take the center path, it leads into the forest. The other two lead to a dead-end and the side of a cliff." Almena said as she wiped some dirt off the tallest boy. He pushed her away with a scoff.

"Don't need help," he muttered with a pout as the other boys grinned at him.

Almena gave the boy a sad smile before turning to Te' asu.

"Let's go."

* * *

The spirit ignored his questions as Loki pulled her up from the ground. She leaned against him and he was surprised to feel the warmth from it.

"We need to hurry, or there won't be time before it's too late for me." she said as she pulled away from his support. The spirit took three halting steps before Loki followed, although a bit closer than before.

"Why?" he tried again as she wavered, hand reaching to grip her arm. She gave a tired sigh as she leaned against Loki before they moved along.

"Your magic…is both helpful and a hindrance here in what is known as the Fade. It keeps you from being detected by the demons but it… keeps spirits like me from entering your space. I need more energy than I can spend to stay in your void. There, walk me to the pedestal." she pointed out at him as they walked uphill.

"The Fade?"

"It is where the…emotions of man take form when they dream. Most are oblivious to what happens but a few can consciously walk here. They are called mages or apostates, depending if they are within a Circle or outside of it. I can manage these last few steps." she nodded to him and Loki let go of her arm.

She stepped over to the pedestal before dipping her fingers into the bowl it held. A swirl of purple mist rose from the bowl before it wrapped around her arms. The mist then spread to the rest of the spirit's body.

The form of the woman that the spirit took wavered before Loki's eyes. He squinted against the glare before he was forced to turn his head. When the light faded away he looked back to see the changes in the spirit.

The woman wore armored clothes instead of robes, her now auburn hair pulled back to show the tattoos on her face that pointed out her cold stare. The spirit reached for her back before the shape of a handle appeared. Tugging gently, the woman brought the dagger to her eyes.

"Much better," she replied as she studied her weapon before she dismissed it. "I didn't think we'd make it here. Now come, we waste precious time."

* * *

"_**Hurry, the more you dally the farther they get from you."**_ she whispered urgently into Carlton's ear as he ran through the cave.

The infatuated man nodded dumbly as he led Devin through the tunnels that he saw one of the children enter. They wasted many minutes searching for the girl and the elf through the dead ends before he began to get guidance.

"_**Destroy the wall at this point. You will gain a few moments before they pass."**_

"We can break apart the wall and surprise them." Carlton said as they reached the dead-end tapping the rock after a moment.

Devin gave him a distracted nod. Soon, he'll kill that knife-ear and that child and if he had to he'd work with the deluded fool.

"Blow it to pieces."


End file.
